Testing my lenses as a pro

[vmic92]

I need know the real qualities of my lenses to do the better use of them.
In fact, I was searching the answer for 2 questions :
- what is the better aperture for each lens ?
- what is the better lens for each combination focal/aperture (when I have several lenses able to have the same focal) ?

Then, I've tested each lens with the same method : Shoting the resolution chart in the same conditions and with the same light. With the zoom lenses, I've used different focals and for each focal (zooms and no-zooms) I have used different apertures :
- the max
- 5.6
- 8
- 11
- 16.

For each shot, I have fixed a little stick in the left-bottom corner of the chart. The color of the stick was different for each lens. On the stick I had printed :
- the name of the lens
- the focal
- the aperture.

Finally, I've selected this corner on each picture and I've assembled this little selections to built some pictures like this :

For the first question (what is the better aperture for each lens ?)
- the different apertures with ONE fix-focal lens.
- the different apertures with each focal of one zoom lens.

And for the second question (what is the better lens for each combination focal/aperture ?)
- the different lenses with the same aperture at the same focale (or approximatively the same focale).

Last informations :
my resolution chart is 27 cm long x 20.5 cm (That is how many inches ? - I don't know)
my 4 lenses are 2 zooms and 2 fix-focals :
- Nikon 28-80 3.3 G
- Nikon 24-120 3.5 VR
- Micro-Nikkor 60mm 2.8
- Tamron 180mm 3.5 macro

Here is the resolution chart with a yellow square where is the selectionned part with the stick.

[vmic92]

With my 2 zooms
24-120 VR
28-80 G

[vmic92]

My fix focal lenses :
Micro-Nikkor 60mm
Tamron 180mm macro

[vmic92]

- what is the better lens for each combination focal/aperture ?
for 24mm or 28mm

[vmic92]

for 50mm or 60mm

[vmic92]

- what is the better lens for each aperture at 80mm ?

[andyfphoto]

Hi Vincent, merry Christmas......your tests tell me one thing, that you love photography. In the last 20 years as a pro not one client has complained about the resolving power of any lens. They have voiced opinions about the image in a creative sense, but not whether the grain/pixels have interfered with the aesthetic of the final image.

I urge you to buy a 'lensbaby' and break free from the routine!!!! Having said that, I would love for you to do a test of Canon L series lenses......hypocrite that I am!!!!

Andre

[Tom Nolle]

That's a great test! It really looks like the 28-80 Nikon blows the 24-120 away. That's very helpful.

Tom

[vmic92]

Yes Tom,
I've discovered the Nikon 28-80 G reading a professional test where it was one of the better of all the Nikon lenses. But the 2 next surprises with this lens are : his weight = 195 gr ! - and his price = $70, yes, only 70.00 USD !
That to set thinking , do not you think ?

[Igor]

Interesting tests Vincent.
What impressed me most is a Tamron 180 vs. Nikkor 60/2.8... :cool:

[big_ben_blue]

Hi Vincent,

interesting and informative test - and what a way to spend the Christmas holidays ;)

but Andre raised a much more importent point - CREATIVITY takes a back seat;
while your test is very useful from a pure technical point of view, it doesn't do overly much in real life (except maybe in the field of macro photography). Most photographers I know, choose their F-stops not according to the "sweet spot" of a certain lens, but rather to suit the subject and the message to be conveyed (ie. wide open to seperate the subject from its surroundings; stopped down all the way to get max DoF; well you know all this stuff). ANd then there are the softfocus lenses - the antidote to the quest of ultimate sharpness.
You have to be careful not to get wrapped up too much in charts and numbers. Take Andre's advice and try a lensbaby, or go oldfashioned with a pinhole or a Holga.


Cheers,
Chris

[vmic92]

What is a LENSBABY ?
Sorry, but I don't speak english and this word is not in my dictionnary.

[Tom Nolle]

I grant that creativity is important, but all the creativity in the world won't make a soft image sharp. You have to know your tools, too.

Tom

[big_ben_blue]

I grant that creativity is important, but all the creativity in the world won't make a soft image sharp. You have to know your tools, too.

Tom

True, as long as you can keep a healthy objective view of your work and tools (and not get obsessed with the number crunching :) )

What is a LENSBABY ?
Sorry, but I don't speak english and this word is not in my dictionnary.

Perhaps this question is funny for someone, also I ask to them to imagine this forum only and all in French ! ! !
Laughters would be then for my sake !

Vincent, it's not an 'funny' question at all and I'm glad you asked to clear this up; a "lensbaby" is a little plastic lens with a flexible bellows (best to imagine it as a crude marriage between a view camera and a toy camera, mounted on a SLR)

http://www.lensbabies.com/ (english)
http://www.lensbabies.de/ (german)

BTW, english isn't my first language either (not even my second), sometimes I'm not very clear with my expressions (or it comes out different than I wanted). I still remember that futile attempt of mine to learn french during my last year at high school. Our teacher was a pretty girl from Switzerland, fresh out of university, but couldn't speak a word german (most of the time, we were clueless what our teacher wanted from us, while staring blankly into these french only text books :confused: ).

Cheers and a Happy New Year,
Chris

[fujifilmnut]

Vincent,

I think I already told you your English is better than mine.

According to my Internet search, a lensbaby is:

Lensbabies are the hybrid of an old-fashioned bellows camera and an up-tight tilt-shift lens. The photographs have the soft, roughed-up look produced by a Holga™, but using a Lensbaby on your SLR gives you greater versatility as well as the ability to experiment with unique shots.

Focus your Lensbaby using the general principle used with a bellows camera – by moving the focusing collar in and out with your fingertips. Move the ‘sweet spot’ of focus around the picture plane by bending the lens left, right, up, & down, kind of like a tilt-shift lens, but much more fluid and intuitive.

An f/5.6 aperture is installed or you can quickly change the look by swapping in one of the aperture rings that come with the lens. The apertures include an impressionistic f/2.8, the versatile f/4 & f/5.6, and the f/8, which is sharper but still has soft edges.

Also found this:

http://www.lensbabies.com/

And this:

The $96 Lensbaby consists of a metal lens mount, a front plate, and a glass lens element inside a bendable, compressible plastic tube. There's nothing automatic about the Lensbaby. To focus up close (down to about one foot away), you push the tube out with your fingers; pull it back to focus towards infinity. If you don't bend the lens, images will be sharp in the center and blur towards the edges. But the beauty of the Lensbaby is that you can bend the lens in any direction and, in so doing, change the point of focus. As you bend the lens more, you can begin to make portions of the image become very dramatically out of focus.

[fujifilmnut]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=ShowProduct&kw=NI288033GAF&Q=&O=&sku=220376

[vmic92]

OK Chris, my sentence about the funny question is deleted.
Thanks for your explanations and the links about the lensbaby.
But that is not for me.
Why I loose many money to buy expensives photographics equipments ?
- To show the beauty of our world to the people who don't know view it.
Why I loose 10 hours to do this tests ?
- To know my tools (as said Tom) and then, to give the best to peoples who do me the honour to look at my pictures.
Do you want that I say what I am thinking about the creativity for a fotographer ? OK
The creativity for a photographer is to be able to see the creativity of the nature (landscapes, portraits, buildings, light and shadows...), to show that to the others.

[vmic92]

Yes Fujifilmnut,
but $69.98 at Hotbuyselectronics
http://www.hotbuyselectronics.com/item_detail.php?item_id=2856

[Tom Nolle]

Vincent, I can swear in six languages but say "good morining" in about three, and converse in only one (English, sometimes even then with difficulty). You're doing great.

Tom

[andyfphoto]

Hi Vincent, I hope you didn't think I was in any way criticising your endeavours....on the contrary, your tests are needed. I agree completely, one needs to choose the best tools and without your hard work we may not have the chance to see unbiased and un-sponsored opinions of equipment. Much like I admire greatly Swampy's dedication to the cause.
AND as for your English, it is fantastic and makes my French sound 'tres fou'....
So keep up the good work and have a great 2005.

Andy

PS The reason I bought a 'Lensbaby' was to do the photos for a client who manufactures industrial climbing equipment and was stuck for a 'creative' way to represent the products, so this seemed to fulfil the criteria. (This is an LED headtorch...... (also helmet detail)

[Tom Nolle]

I thought a "lensbaby" was the photo equivalent of a booth bunny!

Tom

[Wichita Wayne]

I am amazed at the performance of the 28-80 G. The G lenses are made with the same high quality glass as any other Nikkor lens but to cut the manufacturing cost Nikon uses more plastic and composite materials. They also removed the f-stop mechanism on the lens to cut the cost. That means that you cannot use them on older cameras that do not adjust the f-stop for the lens. A lot of the G lenses are turning out to be great performers. I have a 70-300 G Nikkor and it is every bit as good as my old 70-210 slider. These lenses are targeted at all the Nikon camera users that buy third party lenses.

What's really surprising to me is how well the 28-80 did against the 60mm and 180mm prime lenses. I would have expected good performance out of them because they are prime lenses but the little zoom really gives them a run for their money. The 24-120 looked good also and performed just like one would expect a zoom of that range to perform against fixed focal length prime lenses. I think that any of these lenses would be welcome in my kit.

I also liked the test for the optimum f-stop. If you know the best f-stop to use then you can set the camera to aperture priority and shoot away. You can also tune your flash to use that f-stop and get the optimum results.

Great stuff Vincent. Knowing your equipment and how it works is the first rule of any craft, and it will always let you maximize the quality of your art.

[vmic92]

Many thanks Wayne,
I'm happy to read that you have done the same deductions that me and you give perfectly comprised the aim of my test.
I'll be curious to test your 70-300 G Nikkor with the same method.

Publishing my tests in this forum, I was wanting to give to each means to judge, but I was not wanting to influence with my personal opinion. With some answers, the conversation has been turned on others subject, but happily the other answers and the last yours replaces the conversation on his first aim. Many thanks !
Your analysis of the 28-80 G and his manufacture is good.
I can add my analysis of the 24-120 VR saying that this is not possible to have everything at the same time in one lens. From 24 to 120 with quality, it's not possible. The optical science have hard rules. then some parts of this range (24->120) are sacrified ! This is logical.

Now, I think that's time to show you the ultimate part of my tests : the conclusion. I've resumed my conclusion in a little tableur printed on a little card that I have now in my photobag. It's in french, but I'm shure that you can easely undersand my color code :
- black is very bad,
- blue is bad
- blue clear is average
- gray is good
- white is very good.

Have good shots in 2005 !
:cheers:

[Tom Nolle]

Vincent, you can test all my lenses! That table's great.

Tom

[vmic92]

Thanks Tom,
But my holiday time is ended, but you know you can do it yourself.
You can find the resolution chart here :
http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/respat/eia1956.jpg
and you print it on a A4 mat photo paper.
But be care : to test several lenses is a big work which take many time.
This is a good activity, inside, during the winter time...

[fujifilmnut]

Vincent,

The card is a good tool. Thank you for the hard work and sharing your results with us.